Nick Adams: Journey to Santiago

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Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.After the Titanic sank, there were Congressional hearings. Out of those hearings came a new law referred to as "Life Boats for All."The owners of a ship called the S.S. Eastland dutifully added some 10 tons of life saving equipment in compliance with the new law. Afterwards, while boarding passengers in the Chicago River, the Eastland rolled over and killed more passengers than the Titanic. 844 passengers drowned that day. 22 entire families.I was so bummed when I read Hemingway's last last Nick Adam's story. So I wrote my own. The point of departure is from the Nick
Adam's story called Ten Indians. Nick is heart broken at the words of his father. Here, I have Nick taking off the next day and heading for Little Traverse Bay, to make his way around the bay and board a ship on its way to Chicago called the S.S. Eastland. On board, Nick meets a girl who speaks new words into his life. This is the first part of an intended three part story....more

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Once you have read the Nick Adams Stories, perhaps you will appreciate this effort. It is not an effort to "be" Earnest Hemingway. It is rather an effort to complete the life cycle of a man, started in Nick, and culminating in Santiago.

The point of departure is the Nick Adams story "Ten Indians." This "New" Nick Adams Story picks up where Ten Indians ends. Nick heads for the North Shore of Little Traverse Bay to get away from what has happened. Hence, the story-line is based upon the Earnest Hemingway character Nick Adams, and Union City elementary teacher Dar Weber (Dee Dee Foley), who was murdered by shotgun blast to the face. Her story was told on NBC Dateline called Myster at Heath Bar Farm.

The 1914 journey the S.S. Eastland around the Great Lakes from Cleveland to Chicago.

Words are powerful things. They can build up, or the can tear down. Words discourage and words encourage. Through words we let others into our thought and emotional life. Through words we invite each other into our world, and we in theirs. Words that bring devastation one night are replaced by words of hope and comfort the next.

PART II: WATER:

The 1915 traditions and culture of the day are remembered.

Water, essential to life, brings refreshing. We are all drawn to the water. Yet water can also bring about the end life, suddenly. A day so anticipated by the employees of the Hawthorn plant of Western Electric, turns horribly tragic. Things will never be the same for so many. A way of life is forever changed. A culture is lost.

PART III: WIND:

Living in 1916 and beyond. Coping with affliction; overcoming and making meaning of it all.

Wind, exhilarating and uplifting, is used by the birds of the air to soar effortlessly; especially the eagle. Yet, the winds of adversity can prevail upon us. Wind can bring destruction, devastation, and death. When the winds of adversity blow, one is left to endure the affliction they bring.

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In the Great Lakes there are 30,000 islands;
Let’s go claim one, just you and me.
In the Great Lakes there are 30,000 islands;
Let’s go sailing on those pristine inland seas,
Just you and me, won’t you please - sail away with me?

In the Great Lakes there are six-quadrillion-gallons;
Of freshest water the world has ever seen,
In the Great Lakes there are six-quadrillion-gallons,
Enough to meet our needs, for all eternity,
Can’t you see, you belong there with me.

We’ll explore them all together; Travelers of these shining seas,
And we’ll walk the endless shorelines - that stretch as far as we see.

In the Great Lakes there are 30,000 islands;
Let’s go claim one, just you and me.
In the Great Lakes there are 30,000 islands;
Let’s go sailing on those pristine inland seas,
Just you and me, won’t you please - sail away with me?

In the Great Lakes there are 30,000 islands;
In the Great Lakes there are 30,000 islands;
In the Great Lakes there are 30,000 islands.

Track Name: The Light of the World

Well into the witching hour the Eastland has passed through the straits and is well into Lake Michigan. The captain heads for the shipping lanes because of the swelling waters. He doesn't want to take a chance trying to navigate Gray's Reef Passage, especially at night, and run the Eastland aground.

A passenger on the forward deck, leaning on the rail, sees off into the distance a faint light on the horizon. Inquiring of the captain about the light the captain responds that it is the light of the haunted lighthouse, and continues on to tell the story of Seul Choix.